An international treaty to give broadcasters the right to control who may record, transmit, or distribute their signals is reaching a crucial stage of negotiation by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Wired News reported.

The current draft incorporates many proposals, but the proposals that most countries agree on give broadcasters 50 years' worth of legal control over the recording, retransmission and reproduction of their broadcast signals. These rights are separate from those of the owners of the actual content being broadcast.

If members at the next meeting of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, in November approve the treaty, it could take effect by 2006.